“Above Eternal Peace” is one of Isaac Levitan ’s most famous paintings.
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| Isaac Levitan | ||
| Above eternal peace . 1894 | ||
| Canvas, oil. 150 × 206 cm | ||
| State Tretyakov Gallery , Moscow | ||
Levitan began work on the painting in the summer of 1893 on Lake Udomlya , near the city of Udomly . The church in the picture is written from the sketch "The wooden church in Plyos at the last rays of the sun." A sketch of the canvas “Above Eternal Peace”, entitled “Before the Thunderstorm,” made by pencil on paper, is also stored in the State Tretyakov Gallery [1] .
In a letter to P. M. Tretyakov on May 18, 1894, the artist wrote about his painting: “I am so incredibly happy that my work will come to you again, that from yesterday I’m in some kind of ecstasy. And this, in fact, is surprising, since you have enough of my things, but because this last one came to you, it touches me so much because I’m all in it, with all my psyche, with all my content ... ” In another letter, he wrote: “Eternity, a formidable eternity in which generations have drowned and will still drown ... What a horror, what a fear!” It is about this formidable eternity that the picture of Levitan makes us think.
Content
Story
In the painting “Above Eternal Peace”, lead clouds hang heavily over the earth. The wide lake that opens behind the cliff looks gloomy and stern. Levitan wrote that he feels "lonely from eye to eye with a vast expanse of water that can simply kill ...".
Water and sky in the picture capture, amaze a person, wake up the thought of the insignificance and transience of life . On a steep high bank stands a lonely wooden church , next to a cemetery with rickety crosses and abandoned graves. The wind shakes the trees, drives the clouds, draws the viewer into the endless northern expanse. The grim grandeur of nature is opposed only by a tiny light in the window of the church.
Previous work
| External Images | |
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| “Wooden Church in Plyos at the Last Rays of the Sun”, study, 1888 | |
"Above Eternal Peace", sketch, 1892
Notes
- ↑ State Tretyakov Gallery - collection catalog / Y. V. Brook , L. I. Iovleva . - M .: Red Square, 2001. - T. 4: Painting of the second half of the 19th century, book 1, A — M. - S. 360—361. - 528 s. - ISBN 5-900743-56-X .
Literature
- I.I. Levitan. Letters. Documents. Memories. M., 1956;
- Alenov M.A., Evangulova O.S., Livshits L.I. Russian art of the 11th - early 20th century. - M .: Art, 1989;
- Benois A.N. History of Russian art in the XIX century / Comp., Entry. article and comment. V. M. Volodarsky - M .: Republic, 1995;
- Dmitrienko A.F., Kuznetsova E.V., Petrova O.F., Fedorova N.A. 50 short biographies of masters of Russian art. - L., 1971;
- Levitan. Album of reproductions of paintings by the Russian painter-wanderer Isaac Ilyich Levitan / Comp. V. Petrov. Edited by N. Borisovskaya. - M .: White City, 2000;
- Levitan Isaac. Life, creativity and love of Russia for Levitan. Album / Series: Golden Gallery of Russian Painting. M .: Art Rodnik. 2001;
- Levitan Isaac Ilyich. 1860-1900 Album. / Series: Great Masters of Painting / Entry. article by A. A. Fedorov-Davydov A. A. - St. Petersburg: Aurora. 2001;
- Masters of the Russian landscape. The second half of the XIX century. Part 4. I.I. Levitan. Album / Comp. F. S. Maltsev. - M .: Art. 2002 .;
- Landscape. Russian painting. Album / Composition. V. S. Manin / Series: Genres in Russian Painting. - M .: White city. 2000;
- Petrov V.A. Isaac Ilyich Levitan. St. Petersburg, 1992; Russian painting. Album / Composition. S.M. Daniel / Series: National Schools of Painting. - St. Petersburg: Aurora. 2001. Turkov A.M. Levitan. - M .: Tera, 2001;
- Fedorov-Davydov A.A.I. I. Levitan. TT. 1-2. - M., 1966.
Links
- "Over Eternal Peace" in the database of the Tretyakov Gallery